Perplexity
by weazelbee
Summary: Sakura's past is covered in a veil of blood that can never be removed. She thought the Chuunin Exams would just be another bump in her life but now, she's getting more than she bargained for. The cold Sakura now has to face a little thing called love.
1. Chapter 1

**once again I DON'T OWN NARUTO! well this is the first chapter of Perplexity, hope you like the story! **

**ok, enough rambling on with the story!**

_**Blood...**_

_**Blood..**_

_**Blood.**_

Walking aimlessly around her clans' garden, Haruno Sakura picked up flowers to give to her mother. Sakura was born to one of the strongest clans residing in the Snow Country. Everyone loved the 7-year old child with the chubby little cheeks and the warm little smile. Already have graduating the academy, she's spent her days training, picking flowers, and walking through the village.

Awaiting the Chuunin Exams that she were to take when her clan thought she was ready, she trained her hardest, being the heiress to the Clan she did not want to leave a bad impression when she did take the exams.

Yet, even this cute little child should have a fault. Right? Well she does have a fault, that no one knows of...yet.

In his private studies, Sakura's dad, also the Clan leader, quietly looked over some papers, when a voice of a fellow clan member filled his ears. "HARUNO-SAN! HARUNO-SAN take a look at these scro-" Sakura's dad tore his eyes off the paper and looked over to see that Kizeki, had tripped over a chair while trying to tell him something.

"Yes, Kizeki?" He asked, raising up one eyebrow.

"These, scrolls. They, it says something. I think it has something to do with Sakura-san...and this clans' ...you know.._curse_."

Sakura's dad's eyes had widened. The Haruno Clans' curse was only supposed to happen to those who were born into the clan every 146 years since the last child who had inherited the curse.

But it was impossible for it to happen to his little baby wasn't it? She was born 145 years after the last curse holder. Most of the clan would think of it as a curse; being the holder you would be able to control Ice, you would be half dragon, with the power of the Dragon Eyes otherwise known as _Drige_. (Dree-geh)

They would be terrified that the holder would be too strong. Too strong for anyone to fight; and they were afraid that the child would take over, over everything. So they would kill the child the moment they are born. Tazuka, Sakura's dad ran over to Sakura's birth records in order to find out if she was really the one to inherit the curse.

The clan would avoid having a child born on the 146th year, but sometimes it would be unavoidable. Tazuka took out her birth records from the shelf, and his eyes quickly wondered to the year she was born.

_'I was right 145 years after, so why would the scroll say Sakura is the curse holder?' _But his eyes widened when he checked the picture that was taken when Sakura was born.

Looking at the clock on the wall he saw that it had turned the 12:00 A.M. by the time she had just come out of her mother.

Shutting his eyes, Tazuka let his body slide to the floor, after finding out that his baby girl was holding the curse. That he would have to **kill **her.

He couldn't kill Sakura, no he couldn't. But with her with the curse, and when she found out that she had all these amazing powers she would be out of their control, and the demon blood would take over, and she might kill them all.

Pulling himself up, he pushed pass Kizeki to go and find his wife, and tell her about Sakura, of how they would have to kill her...to take her life away.

Many thoughts ran through his head as he walked ontop of the wooden floor, soon finding his wife Natsui in the kitchen, chopping some charrots.

"Natsui..."

"Yes?" she said looking over at him.

"Sakura...she...she..." He could not bring himself to say it, this may be acting un-ninja like to most people , he got a pen and wrote it on a slip of paper. _Dear...Sakura..our little baby she...holds it. The curse. _Tazuka handed it to his wife and rested his chin on his hand and his elbow on the table counter.

Looking at Natsui he saw her eyes widen, and drop the piece paper on the floor. She placed her hand on her gaping mouth and silently cried.

And as they wept, their little baby came in through the door with flowers in her tiny hand. "Mommy,daddy!" She ran into her daddy and giggled, happy as ever.

Natsui walked over to her child and turned her around to face her and hugged her, starting to emit loud cries of sorrow. "why are you crying mommy? Look I picked these for you!" Sakura said smiling and showing her mother a couple of the tulips she had picked.

"I'm crying, cause I love you so much." Natsui said embracing Sakura even closer.

But as the weeks soon passed by, Sakura's parents did what the clan, and the rest of the Ice Village wanted them to do. Seeming that Sakura had not yet to discover the powers that she holds, they had put her into a cell in a basement beneath the grounds that the clan owns.

She had been there some time over two weeks and Sakura had been sitting in one corner of the cell, hugging her knees to herself. Twice a day someone would come down and bring her food, that consisted of rice,meat,and a glass of water.

Three years had passed and Sakura was still locked up in the cell, angered and confused of why the clan did this to her. She thought they had loved her. But what they didnt know, was that after a few months of being locked up in the darkness, Sakura had discovered these powers that the clan was afraid that she would use to kill everyone.

She had practiced using these 'gifts' she calls them, every day for the past years, learning more and more how to control them and to show that she would not kill people she was not like that.

Another year passed, and a mysterious figure opened the bars to her cell and pulled her arm, and dragged her up to the outside. This was the first time Sakura had seen light in four years.

She had expected that, they had found out they were wrong and were going to give her a warm welcoming party. But...she was wrong.

The masked figure threw her on the floor and continuiously hit her back with a leather whip.

Sakura cried out in pain as each strike got worst and worst. She felt blood trickling down her back as she was being whipped.

But things took a turn for the worst, as Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She took her hand and aimed it at the figure, who had turned frozen solid as the cause of her using her 'gift'. The pink haired girl stood up and glared at the surrounding crowd. Looking around at all the people, she was guessing the whole clan was there.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS," She screamed out.

"WE SAW YOU PRACTICING THE CURSE! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL ALL OF US! SO WE HAVE TO KILL YOU!"

"I'm not going to kill anyone. Why would you think that!" Sakura plead, as the endless flow of tears ran down her face. But, as much as she was telling the truth, all of her clan had charged at her, with kunais and shurikens at hand.

She couldn't believe this was happening. Why would her clan do this to her! She's not going to kill anyone! But, then a kunai had pierced into her thigh.

Soon, angered by the action of the people she had thought loved her, her demon blood had driven her to insanity; making her motivated to kill everyone who was trying to kill her.

_**Truly, where does the chaos end?**_

_**Desire, is it the sketch of happiness?**_

Standing, head bowed, her hands stained with blood, Sakura looked all around her. Bodies, blood, weapons, and she had caused all this. She had killed every single one belonging to the Haruno Clan.

Even have killed her own parents.

The demon side of her had subsided as the last person was killed...and as she did stab the ice sword through her Dad's body, tears ran down her face, but her eyes were flashed red.

Now, she had no family. No one to love her, to care for her, to hug her when she was sad...but it was their own fault right? They did TRY and kill her...well what was done ...was done...

A mortal sin Sakura had just done...but...was this the curse of having these power..she thought.

No. Her clan had thought wrongly of her and anticipated that would have gone on rampage if they did not stop her...well..she did go on rampage but it was THEIR FAULT! ...but knowing that she had killed all these people with her bare hands..

All she could do was fall to her knees and sob.

With one quick jutsu, she had cleared up all this blood and bodies, so it looked like that nothing had happend. Walking to the entrance to her home, silently crying and working on forgetting this tragic event, Sakura sat on the futon of her old room and awaited the Chuunin Exams that she were to take...the next year.

**yay the chapter is finished. Hope you don't think Sakura is mean cold-blooded killer! She's not! I'm just gonna make her a little cold in the Chuunin exams but not entirely evil! **

**Ok so..please review! but don't say anything mean please? well REVIEW **

**TA TA readers! (gotta go play some ddr! woot! )**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm back! ooo and dont worry I'll be updating 'Maybe it Was Meant to Be' Ok? **

**'looks at angry mob telling her to stop talking' WELL SINCE IM THE AUTHOR..eh i dont feel like writing ..hmph**

**'one person throws tomato at face' FINE...ungrateful little punks! HAHAHAHA**

**OK ON WITH THE STORY**

**and once again i dont own naruto!**

_**You are the sun...**_

_**Shining me with your radiant innocence**_

_**Even If I endure pain if **_

_**it's all for your smile it's all good**_

_**I'm waiting for the Rising Sun...**_

Sakura was with her two teammates, Ryoku and Hizanu, on a boat headed to the ninja village in the Fire Country, Konohagakure. Sakura was sitting, leaning back against the wood of the boat getting irritated as her teammates were quarrelling about whose sword was sharper.

"You see look...my sword is sooo way sharper! It could cut you're pathetic sword in half at first contact!"

"Yeah right! _Rikoshin_ can slice yours into a million pieces!"

A sweatdrop formed on her head as she thought on how two thirteen-year old boys can act like such babies. Having long forgotton the event that took place a year ago, Sakura had fully mastered the full potential of her 'curse'.

Being feared by most of her village, Sakura would only trust those who were friendly to her. Her _friends_. She was not entirely cold, not a merciless killer as everyone thinks she is. But if she were to be provoked she would _kill._ Yet, there would always be a reason her would kill...

She wouldn't kill without a reason..

"Hey Sakura...Sakura...Sakura...SAKURA!", Ryoku yelled as the girl hadn't answered to any of his calls.

Having of fallen asleep deep in her thoughts, she woke up to find that the boat had stopped and Ryoku's sky blue eyes looking straight into her jade eyes, faces barely inches away from eachother.

"EHHH? GET AWAY FROM ME YOU HENTAI!" Sakura schreeched, standing up suddenly and slapping Ryoku across the cheek.

"Well...I wasn't doing anything in you're _perveted _mind SAKURA!" He yelled anime crying, while rubbing his red marked cheek. "we're here, just so you know." And with that, Ryoku grabbed his sword the 'Rikoshin' and ran towards Hizanu who had already descended upon the sandy beach near the harbor.

Sakura looked at both her teammates warringly. Ryoku's spiky blue hair swayed in the wind as he patiently waited for her. He was rather tall for a thirteen-year old...standing at a height of 5'6 he was intimidating with both his height and a huge sword. He was one that she actually thought of as a _friend_. Wearing a black sleeveless shirt with a mess shirt under, with baggy but not too baggy pants most girls would call him **_hot_**.

Hizanu...well he was a different story...except for the arguments with Ryoku he didn't really talk much. But with flaming red hair and black eyes...he was cute in Sakura's eyes.

Walking over to them, she gave them both a smile as she strode pass by them and walked towards the gates of Konoha. As they walked, Sakura could not help but overhear the whispers the people gave to eachother as soon as they spotted Sakura.

Looking at her with glaring eyes, and hiding their children away, as she walked pass them

Ryoku, noticing this whispered something into Sakura's ear.

"Don't worry. They don't mean anything. K?"

Smiling at his kindness Sakura whispered back, "Yeah.." She was guessing MOST people were imtimidated by the Ice Village, with their skilled ninjas, and advanced jutsus.

Looking at the people again she noticed teenage boys eyeing her pervetedly (eh...im not sure bout the spelling xD) as she walked by. Sakura was wearing a white sleeveless shirt, black shirt under, and was wearing shorts with a black skirt on the the outside. (you know like the one in Naruto 2)

Ryoku glared at the boys with his blue eyes as to saying "stop looking at her or you'll die."

Secretly, he liked Sakura, more than a friend. But he would never say anything, and would just act like an overprotective brother to her.

They stopped walking as they saw a boy wearing a kitty hat, with purple marking across his face, holding up an annoying little brat. Irritated that they got stopped, Sakura stepped foward and told the kitty hat boy to put the brat down.

"And what if I don't pinkie?" Kankurou said, mocking her.

A blonde haired kid stared at Sakura with hearts in his eyes as she threataned Kankurou. And with interested eyes, a raven haired, onyx eyed boy watched quietly in the tree as the pink haired girl talked.

"Look...my teammates and I just want you to put down the boy so we'll be on our way."

"Kankurou...put him down...or I'll kill you." A deep voice said. All looked up to see a red haired boy, with no eyebrows, and a gourd on his back hanging upside down froma tree branch.

"Oh..ehheh...hi Gaara. Yeah..I'll just put him down." Kankurou said afraid that Gaara would kill him. Knowing that he wouldn't hesitate to, even if they were siblings. Sakura looked at this 'Gaara' with interest. Looking into his eyes, she didnt know why but she could see loliness,anger, and hatred.

Things that she felt.

_The blood she shed that day..._

_Screams of 'have mercy' and she still slaughtered them all..._

_after what they did to her.._

Suddenly out her thoughts, she looked around to see that the Sand ninjas had gone and all were there was her teammates, the blonde haired kid, a black haired artist, and an Uchiha.

"Hi I'm Uzumaki Naruto. And you...are?" the blonde Naruto asked giving him a fox-like grin.

_He was whiskers on his face...? _

"I'm Haruno Sakura. These are my teammates, Ryoku and Hizanu." She said...eyeing the boy with interest.

"Judging from your headband...I'm guessing you're from the Snow Country?" the Uchiha asked. Staring at her with his deep onyx eyes.

"WOW...the Ice Village! I hear they have really strong ninjas there." Naruto said, still smiling.

"Yeah..."

The next day they headed to the building where the first Chuunin Exam were to take place. Reaching the hallway, there was a big crowd gathered around two boys who were blocking the doorway to the next floor. Sakura saw a girl get punched by one of the boys and fall back onto a mushroom haired ninja, in green spandex.

Knowing it was a genjutsu, Sakura and her teammates walked over to the two boys and asked POLITELY to move aside. They refused. The boys insulted Sakura after refusing to move aside, and by insulting her, she was losing her patience.

Throwing back an insult, one of the boys attempted to punch her. She caught his wrist and turned part of his arm into ice. Sakura heard amazed gasp as she did this. Sensing the other boy ready to throw and attack she, produced an ice sword on her arm, pointed it at the boy and said, "Don't you dare try and fight me with your pathetic hits."

She was angry. And both her teammates knew, no one could stop her if she was angry. Sure they could hold her back for a while but once her demon blood gets even angrier its impossible to stop her. (yes...sakura is half dragon demon...theres not a demon in her...she IS the demon. partially anyway...)

Everyone surrounding them, looked at the ice ninjas with amazed eyes. Sakura, having calm down was soon again irritated or rather...bewildered ...as the mushroom haired, guy in green spandex came up to her.

"I Rock Lee...promise to protect you until I die! Please be my girlfriend!" He did his Gai-pose...and she couldn't help but sweat-drop.

Ryoku...suddenly getting protective put an arm around Sakura's shoulders and glared at Lee.

Naruto and his team came up to them and said, "Wow...Sakura-chan that was amazing! You seem really powerful!"

_Sakura-chan..._

She was taken a-back by the sudden suffix in her name. No one ever called her this. Maybe Naruto could ...actually be her _friend_.

"Right...Sasuke-teme." Naruto said, nudging the raven haired boy.

"Hn...I bet I'm stronger...dobe."

Sakura glared at him. _Yeah right that guy is stronger than me...or my teammates. Such a conceited person_.

"Eh...you're just jealous of Sakura-chan here! Well good-luck in the exams Sakura!" Again giving her his fox-like grin.

**Some time...during the first exam...**

Already knowing that they were supposed to gather information rather than do the questions yourself. _They want you to cheat..._

Sakura activated _Drige _a looked towards the person in front of her who was writing endlessly. Dragon Eyes...such a useful ability...being able to see through anythig...and I mean EVERYTHING..with the ability to see both past and present, see through solid objects, and genjutsus.

Her eyes turn white blue as Drige is being activated.

Not worrying about her teammates, knowing that they would easily get their answers one way or another, she lazily copied all answers from the person in front of her.

**YAY finished the chapter! **

**Sakura: so..who am I gonna end up with Gaara or Naruto or Ryoku?**

**Saki-Chan: I dont know...hmmm who should YOU end up with...lets let the reviewers decide! **

**Sakura: how bout Gaara...he looks like a PANDA!**

**Gaara: I look like a what..**

**Sakura: runs over and hugs Gaara like a stuffed animal**

**Ok...so review and vote for someone Sakura should end up with here are the candidates! **

**Ryoku, Gaara, Naruto, Sasuke.! **

**Sakura: Don't I get a say in this!**

**Saki-chan: NOPE! hehehe**

**Lyrics belong to DBSK's song "Rising Sun" I dont own it so dont sue me again! **


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm sorry for keeping all of you waiting! I know this update is short but bare with me ok? –puppy face- **

**Well, read and enjoy. **

**Then, review! They make me smile! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. **

Chapter 3

Sakura lay on the _itchy _grass as she and her teammates listened intently at their proctor's instructions for the second test. The first test was a snap. It was obvious that they wanted you to cheat, so she did, and only a quarter of the people who had originally signed up for the Chuunin exams passed to the second round.

_Ain't that pathetic?_

"There is an Earth and Heaven scroll. You'll get one of these prior to the actual test, and during it, your task is to get the other scroll. Do anything in order to get it, that scroll determines whether you pass or fail," the purple haired lady said, holding up the two scrolls in her hands.

_Why do they make these tests so easy?_

The administrators gave the teams a little time to rest and get their one scroll before entering the forest. Hizanu had walked towards the table to retrieve theirs, leaving Ryoku and Sakura alone.

"Do think anyone here stands a chance against us?" he asked, sitting down besides her on the grass.

Sakura stared at the blinding sun above her and answered back, "I don't think so, but the sand ninjas we saw a few days ago might be entertaining enough for us."

"Mmmm. Yeah, the blonde one was pretty cute." Ryoku grinned as Sakura playfully punched him in the arm.

"Remember to keep your little thoughts to yourself, Ryoku-_kun_," the pink haired said, laughing.

A few minutes later Hizanu came back with an Earth scroll in his hand. "The test will be starting in one minute," he said in his monotone voice. "And our gate number is…12…let's go there now."

The team from the Ice Village walked to their gate and waited patiently for someone to signal the start of the test. A loud whistle erupted from a distance and the gates that prevented them from entering the forest opened and all the ninjas sped into the dark gather of trees.

Sakura and her team jumped from tree to tree as they tried to sense an approaching team. If they had the scroll they needed, they'll get it from them, if they didn't, well…you could always have to some fun before getting all serious right?

"Hey Sakura-chan!" Sakura turned her head to the sound of the voice and came face to face with the blonde haired boy from a few days ago.

She smiled and answered back warmly, "Oh, hi Naruto." Looking around for the rest of his teammates, she found none of them so she asked, "Where's your team?"

"We separated. I have to look for firewood Sasuke gets food and Sai has to try and find a team who has a Heaven scroll."

Sakura nodded. _At least I know I don't have to fight Naruto, I'm really warming up to him. _

"Oh yeah, I never got you two peoples' names," he said, pointing at Ryoku and Hizanu.

"I'm Ryoku and that's—well he's not important." Ryoku smiled stupidly at his last statement, but then he earned a smack on the head from Hizanu.

"_I'm _Hizanu." He held out his hand, gesturing for a hand shake. Naruto shook it eagerly and continued to jump with us. Suddenly, a kunai swept pass them and into a nearby tree. The four of them stopped and looked around to see who had thrown it. Sakura activated her Drige and saw three people on the ground behind a couple of bushes.

She mouthed 'down there' to the rest of her companions as she pointed below. They went down to the ground quickly and swiftly.

"We know your there, come out," Sakura said, her eyes fixed on the bush the three boys were hiding behind. They stepped out, smirking. They were all average height for their age, which seemed to be 14, and from their headbands she could tell they were from the Stone Village.

"Oh, so the bitch can see through things with that freaky eye of hers," one of them proclaimed. Sakura shot her head towards him, blazing with fury.

"What did you call me?" She clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles were turning white.

"A bitch what do yo—" Sakura charged at the boy mid-sentence and pushed him against a nearby tree by the throat.

"Say that one more time," she said through gritted teeth. The boy whimpered. _How pathetic. _

The two other ones were about to attack her but then Ryoku had swung his sword at them, causing a strong, blood-curling wind with sharp ice fragments in it to blow towards them. They howled in pain as the ice pierced their skin.

"So, what scroll do you have?" Sakura asked sweetly, as if nothing happened. Naruto stood their watching the snow ninjas at work, amazed at their level of power. '_And I thought Sasuke was strong.'_ He thought.

"W-w-we have the heaven scroll," the boy against the tree said.

"Give it to me." He reached inside his pocket and handed the roll of paper to Sakura with trembling hands.

She dropped him to the ground and smiled at him. "Thank you for your cooperation, we'll be leaving now."

With that, her team and Naruto continued jumping from tree to tree, waiting for the teams to attack to them and try to steal their two scrolls.

**A/N: I know, I know. It's SHORT! But, yeah…lmao. **

**Remember to review! **

**Oh and the results of the who's Sakura going to end up with is sooo cool lol.**

**Sasuke, Gaara, and Ryoku are equally matched! Hmmm, this IS going to be a hard decision, but we'll see who it truly can be as the story progresses so…**

**I'm going to stop my rambling now…ha-ha. **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm trying to juggle two fanfics right now. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. So sad…xD **

Chapter _Four_

"So many fish!" Ryoku exclaimed, holding up one in each hand as he stood in the middle of the flowing stream. After retrieving a Heaven scroll from a team who seemed so confident that they would beat the Ice shinobi, Sakura and her group decided to rest for the night, and head to the tower the next day.

Naruto had bid them farewell a few hours after they acquired the scroll, saying that this guy named Sasuke would yell at him if he didn't complete his job.

Sakura only nodded, but was a little sad when he had jumped away. She had wanted to spend more time with him, to get to know him. Certainly, it wasn't romantic interests that had drawn her to him.

Rather, she felt a certain connection towards him, one she couldn't comprehend, and one she'd like to figure out. The kunoichi felt that they were similar in a way, and she was certain that her theory was right.

Somehow, she knew that Naruto was shunned from his entire village like she was, with the exception of Ryoku and Hizanu who sort of welcomed her with open arms when she was assigned to their team.

"Just get enough for the three of us," Hizanu said. He kept his eyes closed as he leaned against a tree, and his large sword laid beside him.

Ryoku nodded and threw the two fish into a basket on the shore. Every second or so, he kept plunging either one of his hands into the water, coming out with a fish each time, and threw them into the wooden basket.

After a couple of minutes, the basket was filled with fish, and a hill of them was poking out from the opening.

Sakura looked at the pile, wide-eyed. Did he actually think that they were going to eat all this, or was he just so into fish-catching that he couldn't stop himself from getting this much?

"Ryo-" before she could ask, he had already began to tell them about how many fish each of them were consuming.

"Well, I'm guessing Sakura will only have one since she wants to keep her _figure_." The said girl hit him on the head after that. "And since guys like us, Hizanu, don't care about stuff like that, we'll eat the rest. Right?"

Ryoku smiled, and the smile seemed to hold a little too much happiness in them; so much, that the smile was almost kind of disturbing.

Hizanu gave the blue-haired ninja a look as if saying, 'You got to be kidding me? For your information, I like the way my body looks and I don't intend to change it'.

"You guys suck." Ryoku muttered it under his breath, making his two team mates to wonder if it was supposed to be heard.

They started a fire, and stuck their fish onto a stick. They hovered the stick above the fire, rotating them half-heartedly as they attempted to start a conversation to pass by time. Sakura looked over at her team mate who had about four fish on his rod.

She couldn't help but laugh at the site, Ryoku was leaning his chin on his hand, pouting slightly, while twirling the stick slowly. He was muttering incoherent words quietly, maybe still mad that his friends won't even eat more than one fish because they're afraid to damage their physique.

When her fish was done, she placed her hand above it, a centimeter away, and used her so called _curse_'s ability to cool it down a little.

Assuming that it has cooled down enough for her to eat, Sakura bit into the scaly creature and chewed the pieces slowly. Hizanu was taking small bites just like her, and Ryoku was eating away at his four fish like there was no tomorrow. He made munching sounds as he ate, and there was also the faint sound of continuous, _NAW-NAW-NAW_.

Sometimes, Sakura could almost mistake Hizanu for a girl, since both of them acted in similar manners, or is it that Sakura acts like a boy?

-------

Their meal was shortened however, when a kunai zipped through the air and into the fish that she was about to bite into.

The pink-haired kunoichi immediately turned her head to search for the enemy, trying to sense someone's chakra as she scanned the trees. Ryoku had Hizanu had shot up from their seats to retrieve their swords, which were leaning against a tree.

Sakura sensed three people behind all the darkness and leaves. _Drige…_ she said in her mind, and with that her eyes began to turn to a bright, white blue.

The figures were standing completely still; one of them was a tall blonde, a large fan on her back. Another was wearing what seemed to be a kitty hat and make-up on his face, and the other...Well this other person interested her more than the other two.

While his two companions held expressions on their face which could be described as a smirk, this one had nothing written on his face at all.

Not a scowl, or a frown, or a smile. His eyes gave out the intention to kill and the way he stood there, arms folded and all, it seemed like he didn't care he who killed, as long as he got blood on his hands.

The symbol tattooed on the left side of his head meant love. It confused Sakura. Why would someone who gave out a murderous atmosphere have something meaning love imprinted on their head?

She could see a large gourd strapped on his back, and couple of dust particles were seeping out of it.

_Wait, is that sand?_

This person, held so much of her interest right now, and Sakura just wanted to sit him down on a chair and ask him all these questions that were running through her head.

This guy and Naruto, they both were similar to her. In one way, or another.

The two teams separated by the gathering of trees didn't move, both of them waiting for the other to make the first move.

An eternity seemed to pass before the _curse_ holder decided that this waiting was doing nothing, and someone had move first. She held out her right arm, and white-blue light started to encircle around it, forming her ice sword.

She charged at the trees, and swung her sword. The 'wall' that separated the two teams was cut through, and now, the six shinobis were visible to one another.

-------

"Ooh, scary," the blonde one taunted, smirking at Sakura. Growling, the ice kunoichi was about to lunge at the girl when Hizanu suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Wait," he told her. "What do you want?" Sakura nearly dropped to the floor. The red-haired shinobi always wanted to avoid battle, so he would always try to talk his way out of one.

Although Hizanu was one of the strongest genin in the Ice Village, he never wants to fight if it is avoidable.

"Isn't it obvious, your scroll. Hand it over, and we'll spare you." The one with the make-up on was talking now.

Sakura scoffed and pointed her sword at him.

"And what makes you think we're afraid of you?" Kankurou was a bit taken aback by the girl's response to his threat, but he pulled himself together before any one noticed his shock.

"Why you-"

"Kankurou…" The low, deep voice of the red-head that Sakura was observing before got her attention. _So, he even has a voice to match._

The kitty hat wearing ninja trembled slightly before answering. "Y-yes, Gaara?"

Gaara, so that's his name.

Before Gaara could answer back to his brother, Ryoku spoke up out of the blue, pointing _Rikushin_ at the other team.

"Well, I see that your name is Kankurou and yours is Gaara, what's your name blondie?"

The girl gritted her teeth and replied back, "It's Temari, why do you want to know?"

"Because, I think it's only polite to know the names of the people we're going to kill." Their was an idiotic grin plastered on Ryoku's face, and when Sakura looked over at Gaara, it looked as if her team mate's sudden declaration had caught his attention.

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**A/N: Well, that's chapter 4! Hope it wasn't too short. Did you people read "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" yet? I'm only on page 40 so yeah he-he. My brother freaking tried to spoil the ending for me! He looked up info of the book online and was yelling what was going to happen, so I had to turn the volume on my laptop really high and barricade my door. Lol… **

**Remember to review! Just go press that GO button at the bottom left hand corner, you know you want to. Because, without your reviews, this story is as good as dead. Lol. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I'm back! Did you people see 'I Now Pronounce you Chuck & Larry'? I saw it with some friends last week and it was pretty good. Funny…**

**But the movie was starting in like 2 min. and we didn't know which thingy it was in and my friend looked at the ticket yelled out 4 so we ran to theater 4 and looked up and it said 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' and were like what! So I looked at the ticket and saw that it said **_16_**, which was on the other end. I swear, we ran so much xD. And people stared at us like we were idiots lol. **

**Ok, Sorry for that rant.**

**Thanks for all the reviews! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

Chapter V

The blonde girl smirked and retorted back, "Kill us huh? Let's just see you try." She pulled her arm back and reached for the large fan that she was carrying. Gripping it tightly, Temari placed it roughly on the ground, causing a large amounts of dirt to puff up from the ground.

She lifted the fan up, and swung it at the three shinobi standing before her. It emitted a strong gust of wind, so strong that the trees in the way of the wind broke in half. Sakura quickly reacted to the attack and dragged her arm up, creating an ice shield of some sort.

It cracked slightly, but the wind stopped before it could completely break. _They're stronger than we anticipated, this will be fun._ The pink haired girl looked over at her two team mates and saw them with their large swords positioned defensively in front of them.

Ryoku glanced over at her, a sparkle in his blue eyes. That sparkle was a rare sight, it only happened when he thinks he's going to have an _entertaining_ fight, which usually ends with him and his opponent near death.

Sakura and Hizanu remembered the last time Ryoku had that sparkle in his eye. They were on a B-rank mission guarding some cowardly prince and Stone ninjas started to attack them.

They were all strong, and when she and Hizanu had dispatched their enemy, Ryoku was still fighting his. He had blood all over his body, and it was trickling down his face.

He seemed to have a head injury, since his blue hair looked like it was dark red.

The blue haired ninja charged at Temari, the special glint still in his eye. He swung his large sword at her with remarkable speed, and it never failed to make people wonder what it's weight actually was.

The sand-nin blocked it with her equally large fan, and sparks bounced off at contact. They both grinned mischievously.

Ryoku flew back, landing gracefully on the ground. Hizanu swung his own sword at Kankurou, who fled to a nearby tree.

Strings of chakra were visible on his fingers, and a wooden puppet appeared before them. It opened its mouth and a pointy, kunai-like object came out of it.

It charged at Hizanu, who easily dodged. "Ice Jutsu: Frozen Twin Dragons!" (A/N: I know, it's corny. I couldn't think of anything else!)

The ground below them turned to ice and two large dragons-made out of ice-sprung out from them. One charged at the puppet, the other at the puppet master.

Kankurou jumped out of the way, barely making it. But in order to save his own skin, he was unable to get his little doll out of the way, thus letting the puppet be shattered to pieces by Hizanu's jutsu.

While Sakura had been busy watching the two fights, Gaara had been silently observing the girl with curious eyes.

_There's something…about her. What's so similar about us? _

He had noticed that she was able to produce and manipulate ice, like he was able to with sand. Of course, he couldn't actually just make sand out of the blue, but he could create it when he has a supply of dirt at his disposal.

Gaara had never felt like this before, actually wanting to know more about someone.

He had told himself that love was a useless emotion, yet it was tattooed on his head. No one had ever shown any care for him, but his uncle. But no, his uncle pretended to love him, so Gaara had failed to see that he only wanted revenge for the death of his sister.

Gaara's mother, who he had killed.

Sure, you could say that his two siblings cared about him, but could he really believe that? He would keep telling himself that they just act like they love him, out of fear that he would kill them.

Maybe he was just too scared to get too attached to anyone, and wind up getting hurt again.

So he said, he would fight only for himself, and no one else.

Gaara let a gathering of sand charge at Sakura, who blocked it with her ice.

She formed her ice sword again, and lunged at the gourd-wearing boy. When she swung her sword at him, a wall of sand blocked the attack.

Gritting her teeth, she attacked him again, this time aiming it straight at him, and adding more ice to her weapon.

Gaara let out a tiny gasp as the tip of the sword stopped a few centimeters in front of his face. He jumped back, avoiding the extending ice. Sakura smirked, and lifted her hand up to her lips.

She blew, as if blowing a kiss, and sharp ice particles flew at him at incredible speed. Before they could make contact with his skin, his absolute defense blocked its path. But one of them made it pass through, and grazed the side of his face.

A trickle of blood made its way down his face. Gaara's eyes widened. In truth, no one has every made him bleed before. At least, not after he discovered how to control this power of his.

And now, this random Ice kunoichi gave him a cut on his cheek? Angrily, he made a wave of sand head straight at the girl, in its offensive mode.

She countered it with her own beam of ice coming out from her hand. The two attacks met, and as nature would have it, Gaara's sand was frozen solid soon after the meet.

He scowled and looked Sakura, who had the widest grin on her face.

**A/N:**

**Remember to review! I want to see if I can reach 100!**

**Sorry if it was too short.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: You guys didn't expect me back so soon did you!!! Well, since I got a lot of reviews for the previous chapter, I decided I should express my thanks by updating with a new chapter! I know, it's not much but I think it will be hard sending everyone cookies! **

**Also, this chapter is for **Staring.out.my.flooded.window **since she said that her birthday is coming up soon. Am I too late or too early? xD**

**I think I'm going to dedicate each chapter to a reviewer from now on, it seems fun haha. **

**-----------**

With gritted teeth, Gaara was about to make another wave of sand attack the girl, but was stopped by the sound of Temari's voice. "Gaara! Kankurou is hurt, we need to retreat!" Dang that brother of his.

"He can still fight," he answered back, his eyes still glued on Sakura.

"Gaara!" Temari raised her voice, and it held a mixture of emotions. Shock, concern, worry. Reluctantly, Gaara maneuvered his sand back into the gourd and jumped back into trees that hid them as they ran away from the Ice shinobi.

Surprisingly, they didn't follow them. But only watched as their opponents scurried away while supporting their injured team mate.

"They were strong…" Hizanu whispered, more to himself than to his two friends.

"But we could have beaten them if they hadn't run away like cowards! The blonde was talking about some crap about these circles on her fans. They haven't seen the power of _Rikushin _just yet!" Ryoku laughed mischeviously while strapping his sword securely on his back.

He is cocky and arrogant, but in some way, he kind of has a right to be. Maybe not in the extreme he's taking it to. Though, he could act a little conceited if he wants, he deserves it after what he's been through in his childhood.

Witnessing your parents being murdered right before your eyes, roaming the streets homeless and starving, and you're only 8?

Sakura had run into him a week after she slaughtered her whole clan. He managed to live three years as a homeless kid, stealing food and water. Feeling sorry for him, and feeling lonely in that large house of hers, she took him in.

Of course, they got along great! Yet, the pink-haired kunoichi was still totally oblivious to the strong feelings that Ryoku holds for her.

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"Just tell her," Hizanu told him as they headed towards the tower. They figured that there was really no point in staying inside the forest any longer.

"It's not that easy, what if she rejects me? It'll be so awkward after…" Ryoku's eyes softened as he looked at Sakura longingly. They both strayed behind her so they could have their little, guy-to-guy talk.

Of course, they were careful to sense whether or not Sakura was using that dragon demon hearing of hers. If they sensed an increase in her chakra, they would shut up immediately.

"If this feeling you have for Sakura is love, then don't you think it's worth the risk?"

"Yeah well, hey! What's with all this deep stuff? I thought you don't have any emotions!"

A vein popped up on the side of Hizanu's head. "Just because I don't like to waste my breath on stupid questions doesn't mean I have no feelings!" Sakura looked back her friends confusingly, wondering why Hizanu was yelling.

Ryoku waved his hands frantically. "It's nothing Sakura, just turn around now!" She nodded and turned her head forward again.

"Stupid! She might have asked why you were yelling and then you would've said because Ryoku said I have no feelings. Then I would've said because he said love his worth the risk! And then she'd be like… love?"

"I don't think it would've come to that."

Ryoku sighed and bowed his head. "You never know. And besides, what you said was true. But, just being a friend in Sakura's eyes…that's more than enough for me. And I don't want to risk that friendship. Even for love."

Hizanu rubbed the back of his neck and gave his friend a defeated look. "You've really matured." Ryoku smacked him on the shoulder. "So you're just going to watch and protect her from afar then?"

The blue-haired shinobi nodded, his eyes still laying on Sakura. _I'll just watch her from afar…she doesn't need to be burdened with my feelings for her. _

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The group stopped when they reached the outside of the tower. When they entered, they saw a few teams already inside, and judging from their appearance, they looked to weak to be fighting the Ice Team.

"Sakura-san!" Sakura turned her head, expecting it to be Naruto, due to the over enthusiastic voice. But was slightly disappointed, and disgusted, when she found it to be the boy in green spandex that had asked her to be his girlfriend.

He was charging at her, in what seemed to be slow motion. His arms were outstretched, in a position that looked like he was going to hug her. The bowl headed ninja's lips were puckered, and little red hearts were blowing out from it.

Ryoku, looking back and forth between the two then decided to go into his over protective brother position. He reached for _Rikushin _and was about to place it between the two, or better yet, bang it on that fuzzy eye-brow's head, when Sakura beat him to it.

She produced and ice wall in front of herself, thus making Rock Lee kiss the Ice instead of the girl of his affections.

People around them giggled, but quickly resumed their own conversations. "Sakura-chan!" This time, she had assumed right, and it was Naruto who had come running up to her this time.

He still had that fox-like grin plastered on his face, the grin that makes Sakura feel a certain connection to him.

Naruto walked over to them, and Sakura was guessing the two people behind him were his team mates. She remembered the one with the chicken hair as the conceited and silent one of the group.

The one with his midriff showing looked to be the type who just doesn't want to bother opening his mouth. Someone like Hizanu.

"You got your other scroll Naruto?" Sakura asked, a little curious on his fighting skills. He nodded his head eagerly.

"Yeah, it was a little tough though. This lady, who turned out to be a dude, attacked us with a snake! But we made it, thanks to Sai drawing all those animals. Then we got ambushed by Sound nin while we were still tired, Sasuke-teme was out like a baby, so me and Sai fought them all by ourselves!"

Naruto gave a thumbs up after telling his little story. The one, who she guessed was Sasuke, gave a 'Hn' sound under his breath and walked away to go lean on the wall. _He's trying to act cool…_

"So what about you?"

Snapping out of her thoughts, Sakura answered, "Shinobi from Suna assaulted us while we were eating. Hizanu injured one of them so they retreated."

The konoha ninja in front of her nodded his head understandingly, giving little 'uh-huhs'. "Well I'll see you later Sakura-chan! Good luck on the next exam!" Naruto waved them good-bye and joined Sasuke by the wall, followed by Sai.

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"He's very…enthusiastic," Ryoku said. _And he's acting so friendly with Sakura! Calm down Ryoku, remember, you said you'll just watch her from afar. _

"It kind of makes me happy though," she said. Her two friends looked at her oddly. "He acts so ordinary with me, like I'm just like everyone else. Different from the village, who stare at me like I'm going to kill them and their children at any second."

"They're just afraid of your demon side; the demon that could very well take control over you when pushed to the limit. Like that night?" Hizanu reminded her.

Ryoku's eyes widened a little, afraid that Hizanu's statement may have struck a nerve in Sakura, or worst, hurt her.

I mean, would you like to be reminded that you had murdered your entire family?

A pang struck her heart. "Yeah, I remember. Don't worry, I can keep my demon blood in check." Silence enveloped the team, and a moment later, they all walked over to the wall next to the Konoha ninja that Sakura seemed fond of.

But, unnoticed by them, when a certain team had entered the tower, a pair of ears had been listening to their conversation.

And this person, just so happened to have 'Love' tattooed on his head.

**-------------**

**A/N: There it is chapter 6! Do you guys notice I'm updating more frequently now? Well, it's all thanks to the reviews I've been getting, so keep them coming lol. I'm going to dedicate the next chapter to one of you ppls cuz it's fun lmao.**

**But what sucks is that, I'm stuck on a boss in Final Fantasy X hehe. And school is starting AUG. 27. **

**cries **

**REVIEW! **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm back! Thanks for all the reviews! Ooh, do any of you guys play Final Fantasy X because I'd just like to say I think that Seymour is a bastard, thank you lol. That scene in the macalania woods with Tidus and Yuna is soo sweet! Too bad about the ending though, I cry every time I see it xD.**

**Disclaimer: I know the drill, I don't own Naruto.**

**Ok, on with the story!**

**This chapter is dedicated to **suck-a-butt **because I like your name lol.**

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It was time for the third exam to take place, and the young genin were told by the 3rd hokage that their had to be preliminary matches before the real exam, since their were too much people remaining from the second exam.

Each one of the teams met up with their sensei and waited patiently for their picture to appear on the large screen, as well as their opponents.

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_Breathless_

He, Uchiha Sasuke, was panting during fight with this… **girl**! Everyone back at the academy had always dubbed him as the number genin of their year, so he obviously acted cocky and arrogant when facing other genin.

Yet, this girl, with the most UN-natural hair color, I mean, whose hair is naturally pink? The girl from the Ice Village is getting him so exhausted, and she doesn't even seem to break a sweat.

Sasuke studied her face as they stood on opposite ends of the 'battle arena'. She was pretty, he had to admit, and her face was smirking at him. But what shocked him the most was, before, the Uchiha thought she had emerald eyes, and looking at her now, he could see that they were white-blue and contained no pupils.

Clenching his fist, Sasuke made an attempt to directly punch the girl, but his punch was easily blocked with a beam of ice. It first froze his clenched hand, then made its way up to his shoulder, immobilizing his arm.

He couldn't use his clan's gift, since the cursed seal he had gotten would act up again if he did. Even with the Sharingan, he still wouldn't be able to keep up with her movements. She seemed to be using a jutsu, but she made now hand movements signifying that. _What was she…? _

The prodigy was going to use the Great Fireball jutsu for an attempt to unfreeze his arm however, he tossed that idea away when he realized that he could go overboard with the jutsu and end up burning his arm to crisp.

Sakura stared at the so called 'number one genin' who was grimacing at his frozen arm.

_I should just end his embarrassment now. _"Sasuke-kun! Don't lose to this girl!" A voice from the "audience" caught both of their ears. They scanned the crowd to find it to be a blonde girl waving her arms frantically up down, next to a fat kid munching on chips and a lazy guy leaning against the wall.

The half demon's face went blank as she watched the girl publicly humiliate herself. _She's really cheering on this weakling?_

Raising her left hand up, she made multiple ice spikes appear above her opponent. Sasuke lifted his head up to the sharp ice weapons before jumping backwards to dodge one that headed straight for him.

It crashed into the ground and when the dust cleared, a five foot deep hole could be seen from where he had originally been standing.

More came at his way, and he barely managed to avoid the last two of them. "Aww, and I thought that that last one was going to hit you for sure, oh well, this'll be more fun," Sakura taunted.

She then placed her left hand on the floor and covered the whole surrounding area into ice. Even parts of the walls were covered with the cold solid.

Sasuke struggled to keep his balance on the slippery substance, he was going to lose. As much as he didn't want to believe it, but he was going to lose against this girl and not make it to the final matches.

_Wait! I can just fight Ice, with fire! Stupid Sasuke._

The Uchiha sucked in a large breath and blew it, creating a large fireball. Sakura easily blocked it with her ice, as usual, but also charged at the boy with her ice sword, knowing that he wouldn't suspect her to counter attack.

Sasuke jumped away, barely, as the tip of her blade ripped part of his shirt and created a cut across his stomach. A pain on his shoulders started to appear and he knew that it was the cursed seal acting up again.

He clutched his shoulder and gasped in shock to find everything still covered in ice.

"You thought a mere fire jutsu could melt my ice? Think again, this ice contains my chakra inside of it, so it will not disappear unless I run out of chakra or make it go away on my own will," Sakura explained to the surprised Uchiha. "But that is an amazing feat, being able to do that jutsu without performing hand seals."

Yeah it was nice that he could perform that SINGLE jutsu without the use of hand seals, but it was the only one he knew. Without the use of his right arm, he could kiss ninjitsu good-bye and hand the match to Sakura.

"I'll end this now." Drawing her arm up, a cage made out of ice trapped Sasuke within it, preventing him from moving.

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Up in the crowds, Ryoku and Hizanu were watching their team mate fight with mild interest. Their sensei was leaning against the wall, a cup of Sake in his hand. His bamboo hat was over the top part of his face, so all that was visible was his mouth.

"Eh, that's what she meant by 'I'll end this now'. Geez, Sakura is growing soft!" Ryoku exclaimed, sighing.

Hizanu leaned against the metal railings and replied back, "Well, it's better than having her kill her opponent, right sensei?" He looked at his mentor and waited for an answer.

"Yes, that is true. I remember one mission where she almost killed that criminal we were supposed to bring back alive for interrogation. Why did she lose her cool back there anyway?" Their teacher lifted his hat up, revealing the face of a young man with ice-blue eyes.

"The criminal…keeps his daughter locked up in a cage and rapes her occasionally. Plus he was wanted for several murders," Ryoku said, watching as the proctor declared Sakura as the winner.

Sakura let the ice in the surrounding area disperse, and sealed away her _Drige_ eye. She made her way up the stairs towards her team but was stopped mid way when the blonde girl who was cheering on Sasuke came in front of her and pointed an accusing finger at her face.

"You think you can just beat Sasuke-kun like that! I'll avenge him!" She ran up to Sakura, a kunai at hand, and attempted to stab her. The ice ninja grabbed the other girl's hand before it could stab her face and threw the girl lightly against the wall.

"You have to train a thousand years before you ever think you'll have the chance to defeat me. But, I honestly don't think that that guy is worth your breath."

Ino perked up at the mention of her long-time crush.

"What are you talking about of course he is! He's…hot…" Ino quietly whispered the last word, after realizing that that may be the only reason she liked him.

The pink haired kunoichi turned her head slightly, "Is that all?" And with that she proceeded down to her team mates and sensei. Sakura found them all looking down at the next match.

"It's one of those ninja from Suna, the one who can control sand," Hizanu said. She eyed the two people fighting, and it was definitely that guy with the gourd on his back. She also knew the person he was fighting: the guy in green spandex who tried to hug her.

He seemed to be the only one actually moving, since he was trying to kick away the sand that was defending Gaara. Every time he made a movement to harm his opponent, the sand would quickly block it.

Gaara was simply standing their with his arms crossed, letting the sand do all of the work. The Konoha ninja jumped on top of the statue and let two weights drop to the floor. _What difference will that make?_

Sakura was surprised when the weight made a large crater on the tiled ground when it fell. The boy then started to move with blinding speed around the sand shinobi. _Well, this will be interesting_.

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**A/N: The end…of chapter 7. Well, I hope it met up to your expectations! Arghh, there's no more cookies in the pantry haha, and I need my cookies!!! O well, ill just get pixie stix hehe!**

**Review! That GO button is calling to you!!! **


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm back people! School started last Monday and I was really disappointed with my schedule. I didn't get much classes with my friends, and none with some of my good buddies xD. I despise my English teacher too, ughhh. Oh well…**

**I'm sorry for that rant! But geez I hate the people who invented school. My parents are expecting straight A's like always, but now, I have to become Salutatorian or Valedictorian! Ughhh, so much pressure. And I'm so lazy too, haha. **

_Dedicated to _ArigatoBlossom

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The preliminaries for the third exam ended, and the genin who had made it through to the final rounds were given a few weeks to prepare themselves for the actual matches. Of course, Ryoku and Hizanu had defeated their opponents easily, since they were weak like that Sasuke person she faced.

Ryoku had toyed with his enemy at first, faking being injured and such, but quickly disposed of him when he got bored. She didn't know who the person was he faced, but he was eating a bag of chips while he was fighting.

Odd…

Sakura was walking through the streets of Konoha, bored out of her life! The people moved around her in one big blur, their voices were all jumbled together to the point where it just sounded like pointless blabbing.

Hizanu said he'd rather stay inside and meditate, while Ryoku had told her he'd do the same, but anyone who knew him would instantly be able to tell all he wanted to do was laze around on the couch all day.

She just shrugged off though, not wanting to press onto the subject more than it has too. Either way, it'll end up with the same results.

What to do, what to do? Sakura let out a breath, placing her arms on the back of her head as she walked with the large crowd. The guys that she passed by gave her lusting looks and she felt their eyes on her even after she was a fair distance away from them.

'I think I like the villagers back home better than the ones here…' Sakura placed her arms on the back of her head and looked around for something fun to do. Most of the people were busy chatting with their friends, or trying to sell some goods from their store.

The little ninja kids were running around throwing kunai at each other, and some were crying because they fell and scraped their knee. Of course their mommies came to their aid and cooed at the little child so it would cease its crying.

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_Sakura POV_

A flashback of my own mom comforting me when I was crying appeared in my mind, her arms around me, and her lips placing a gentle kiss on my forehead. She placed a bandage on the scrape I had gotten on my leg, and told me it was all better.

And I believed her.

It was like whatever my mother said, was true. If she had told me that the sun had a smiley face and that it's bright light of dawn was its way of greeting me, I would have believed her.

I would've told all my friends that the sun came up just for me, if my mom had told me so.

I miss my mommy. A lone tear slipped down my check, and I hurriedly wiped it away. It was my fault she was dead though, so wherever she is now, she'd probably be cursing at me and telling other 'dead people' around her what a horrible child I was.

Killing the person who gave birth to her. I wondered, did she oppose to locking me? Did she care?

Without noticing, I found myself in a field covered in sakura petals. _How ironic…_

Dozens of Cherry Blossom trees were scattered around the pink infested ground, and to the sight of it, no one else was there. It was perfect place to just sit down and think. I plopped myself under a tree, leaning against it for support.

I was about to close my eyes until-

"This tree is taken." My eyes darted up to the sound of the voice, and I found myself looking into a pair of pupil-less eyes. The boy, who seemed to be about my age, had long dark brown hair, tied just at the tip.

His face was calm, stern, cold. Judging from his forehead protector, he was a Konoha ninja. A picture of a kid fighting a girl with the same eyes as him popped in my head and it was then I remembered seeing this person in the Chuunin exams.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow at him, and he glared at me. "Does it have your name on it?" I stood up and pretended to look around the tree for his name, even though I had absolutely no clue what his name actually was.

He jumped down from the branch he was resting on, now standing in front of me. The boy was a few CENTIMETERS taller than me, my eyes reaching his nose.

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We stood their for a couple of minutes, staring each other down, and waiting for the other to give up and walk away. But neither of us did so he apparently got bored of our little staring competition and growled in frustration.

"Fine, whatever, I'll find another tree." The Konoha ninja started to walk away, but with a slip of the tongue, I called after him.

"Wait!" He turned around, and it was his turn to raise an eyebrow.

"What?" I moved towards him and muttered something incoherently. I was sure he didn't catch anything I said since he gave me a puzzled look after I finished. Exactly why did I stop him again? "What did you say?"

All these stupid foreign ninjas are grabbing my interests! Am I hitting puberty or something? I remembered the girls in my villages focusing more on their appearances than on their skills as a shinobi, and I always thought they were stupid for that.

They chased after all the cute boys on a regular basis, and would do nothing but gawk at them if they were a couple of feet away from them.

I never chased after any boys, or _stared _at them, and yet, a boy with no eye brows and a boy with no pupils is grabbing her attention? Maybe I am hitting puberty…

"I said," I took a breath and looked away from his piercing eyes. "You don't have to leave, we can share the tree." Shit, shit, shit, shit! I felt blood rushing to my cheeks so I turned away from the boy and waited patiently for his answer.

"Hn, whatever." He brushed passed me, towards the tree, not bothering to turn around to see if I was following.

After I was certain that my cheeks were back to its regular skin tone, I walked back to that oh-so special tree. He up on one of the branches again, possibly the same on, and his white eyes were closed shut.

The brown-haired shinobi looked so peaceful, like nothing in the world was bothering him. I guess I was too busy staring at him since I didn't hear the question that he had asked me.

He threw a twig at me to get my attention, and I yelled out a, "What?"

"I asked you what's your name?"

"Haruno Sakura, yours?"

"Hyuga Neji." I nodded my head understandingly, before placing myself back comfortably under the tree. It was quiet the next few minutes, since this Neji was obviously not the talkative type.

"You're strong," he said out of the blue. I raised my head to look at him. "You beat that Uchiha kid."

"Yeah I did, and thanks," I replied, giving him a little smile. Neji's cheeks turned to a shade of pink and he quickly turned his head away from my view. I giggled slightly before becoming silent again, finding the sound of petals flowing in the wind comforting.

I thought about Gaara and Neji, and how they both seemed to make a little flutter in my heart. Why these two? And what does it mean when you want to see a certain person each and every day?

_The Chuunin exam, is becoming more than I bargained for. _

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A lone figure stood in between two large Sakura trees, watching the two other shinobi talking to one another. The person clenched their hands tightly, their knuckles turning white from it.

The shadow walked away, their spiky blue hair swaying in the wind as they walked.

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**A/N: BAM! End of Chapter Eight. Yes, I added a little NejiSaku there! Just to make things a little more interesting. But I might change the pairing if that's the way the story goes...it's not certain though!  
**

**Review! **


	9. Preview

**Preview:**

Are demons supposed to feel this way? I asked myself, placing my hand to where my heart was. After my encounter with the white-eyed boy, my mind was a bit jumbled. I kept thinking about the feeling I had thought I'd thrown away a long time ago.

But now it's _back_.

I wondered what Ryoku and Hizanu would say when I tell them that I might have my first ever crush. Should it even be considered a crush? Truth to be told, I'm only 12, so the chances of this attraction being love is a million to one.

Right?


	10. Chapter 10: Mini chapter

**A/N: Since school started I have had very little free time so this is all I've got. The school is getting us all prepared to go to high school and stuff so yeah. I'm kind of scared to be a freshman haha…**

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Are demons supposed to feel this way? I asked myself, placing my hand to where my heart was. After my encounter with the white-eyed boy, my mind was a bit jumbled. I kept thinking about the feeling I had thought I'd thrown away a long time ago.

But now it's _back_.

I wondered what Ryoku and Hizanu would say when I tell them that I might have my first ever crush. Should it even be considered a crush? Truth to be told, I'm only 12, so the chances of this attraction being love is a million to one.

Right?

I growled and kicked the tall tree in front of me, bending it in half. Lately, my demon blood has been starting to act up a lot now, and most of those times I catch a glimpse of red hair.

I decided to tour around Konoha again, maybe search for someone who was stupid enough to fight me, or maybe just someone to talk to. There was a yell in the distance and a large crowd of people were surrounding something.

While some were worried and gasping, others were cheering and yelling out, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" This reminded me of my school days when every time a couple a boys got into a fight, the students surrounded them and chanted them on, instead of trying to break it up.

I calmly walked towards the group of people and looked over a short kid's shoulder. My eyes widened slightly when I saw that Gaara person again, and a ninja from the Sound Village.

The sand I had frozen before was already released from his gourd and striking at his opponent. He stood in front of the other shinobi, calm, as if nothing was bothering him. Again, what intrigued me the most was his emotionless face, no hint of anger, sadness, love…?

When I was locked up in that basement before, I had pictured my eyes as his were right now, since I had no way of seeing how my eyes _actually _looked. I decided I wouldn't draw attention to myself, so I didn't bother to stop the fight going on.

Looks like the people gathered around them had no intention to stop the battle either, their cheers growing louder and louder by the second.

After many dodging and attacks, the sound nin retreated realizing that he wouldn't be able to defeat Gaara, who had been at the same spot throughout the whole fight, not moving one inch.

The crowd dispersed as expected, going back to their own activities, almost seemingly like the fight never happened.

I had stayed, hoping to have an actual conversation with the mysterious shinobi. Maybe this time we won't try to kill each other. "Uh…" Great, I didn't know what to say. What exactly _should _I say to someone who seems like they never had a conversation longer than three seconds?

"You're a demon." Gaara's voice was low and deep. I was taken aback for a second, shocked that he knew of my _curse_. "Mom is telling me." Mom? Who was his mom?

I remained in the same spot for a few more minutes and didn't speak. After a few more moments the red head turned and walked away. I had wanted to yell after him and say that I wasn't done speaking to him, but I restrained myself from doing so.

I should be concentrating on training for the 3rd exam, not slacking off. But not being conceited or anything, do I really need to train to defeat these weaklings?


End file.
